Posts that Didn't Happen: April 2026

And on to April - where for the first half of the month a lot of our time was taken up with car issues.  

While the damage to the car was largely cosmetic (paintwork and some minor 'dinks') - we had been planning to trade it in, and as the damage would affect its trade-in value, we rang the insurance people. They advised it should be dealt with on a no-fault non-insurance claim basis, through Enterprise and Incident Management Solutions - so far, so good.

Then we had word that they were classing it as a 'total loss' (a Category N non-structural 'write-off') - basically, given the age of the car, they'd decided it wasn't worth 'repairing'.  After some to-ing and fro-ing it also became apparent that we weren't insured to drive it, without a further MOT and repair work!  All of which left us using the campervan as a 'run around' and finally having to make a decision over whether we were going to go for an electric car or not.

Decision made, and the middle of the month saw us with a full drive - the van, the old car (awaiting resolution of the 'total loss' claim before disposal), and our new electric car . . .  

Next job, a car charger! (Wherein lies a future tale!)

In other news: we continued minor upgrades to the van (boxing in around the rear windows); I finished what I think should be my last consultancy project; our nearly six-year old sourdough starter got a serious mould infestation and had to be binned; we rearranged some furniture, investing in behind-the sofa shelving (for my growing jigsaw collection!), moving the futon to the spare room from the Folly, and the 'kewb' chairs to the Folly from the spare room; and along the way I did a bit of Lego!

An investment was also made in new plug-in 'mobile' solar panels, which with mini inverters, will allow us to take advantage of sunny spots around the house.  

They were a bit larger than we'd taken on board, and in the end we returned two of them, as we didn't think we'd have the space to accommodate all four.  Busy trying them in different areas of the garden to find the best locations!

Towards the end of the month, with some dry weather, we decided to get rid of the yew tree off-cuts from last month's efforts, with a bonfire.  

Well inferno, might be a better word for it - it turns out yew tree is very very flammable, and it went up like billy-oh!  

Martin usually has a hose on stand-by, but it caught him unawares, and we had a bit of a panic before getting it under control.  We now have a rather large scorched patch, and a burnt section of netting on the fruit cage (which we were dismantling anyway so not an issue.)  

On the plus side it was all over very quickly, and it burnt away to nothing - one to take on board for any future bonfires though!

Finally, the end of the month saw us take our first 'proper' trip in the van - staying at a campsite in Llangollen (part of a trip to take Martin's parents to visit family in North Wales).

We had a mostly sunny, if breezy couple of days, with lots of walks - including out to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (which it was a real experience to walk across).

It was a nice break - enjoyed a few beers and a very nice curry - and got to test the van in a 'real world' environment (rather than my parent's drive).

All good!

Posts that Didn't Happen: March 2026

The month didn't start well, after the Idiot Abroad (aka Trump) started a war in the Middle East, and sent oil prices rocketing - unfortunately our oil tank was by then rather low, so the rayburn promptly went off!  

Then we managed to break the oil monitor when changing its battery (needing to keep an eye on how low the tank actually was) which had to be replaced too :(

In the garden, we decided to have a go ourselves at reining in the yew tree, which had bushed out quite a lot on the side near the house.  It wasn't an entirely successful exercise, as we couldn't get to one top branch, and another branch nearly took out Martin and wooden arch!

Still - it's better than it was - although we now have a huge pile of yew tree branches to deal with.

Early in the month I also headed across country to visit the folks for a couple of days, help out with medical appointments, and take Mum to visit an old friend.  

Stayed with my sister and brother-in-law (who's very into his Lego), and amused myself by hiding a small Lego knight mini-figure in his Home Alone display piece - will he ever notice??

Home to 'fluttering' noises in the rayburn flue.  We assumed there was a bird in there, and ended up partially deconstructing as much of it as we could in the hope that it would find its way 'down'.

Eventually all went quiet, so it either found its way 'up' or expired in the flue - hopefully the former!

In other news . . .  continued with a consultancy project; bought new smartwatches (mine now tracks my swimming lengths, so no excuse for losing count!); indulged in more Lego (adding the Viking Village to last month's Medieval Town Square); and Martin fitted a new inverter to the campervan (replacing a very noisy model we returned for a refund).

The end of the month saw us back across country for a 63rd Wedding Anniversary family party.

Had a lovely celebration weekend with extended family - also took Mum a Wade 'Treasure Trail' set I found online (like the one she remembers her Mum having).

The last day of the month saw us back home, where a shopping trip to town saw our newly MOT'd (if rather old) car, bashed up while parked in a local car park - starting a whole new saga . . .

P(r)imping the Yew Tree

With an abundance of primroses and other spring flowers around the garden, decided to transplant a few into the rather scrubby patch at the base of the yew tree, and pretty it up a bit.

Most seem to have 'taken' ok - but watch this space next year for what hopefully should be an even more colourful display!

Back to the Woodshed

We've not done much with the woodpile for a couple of year's or so now - except for a bit of a tidying up exercise back in 2017 - and it was all returning to a state of chaos once again.

So, with a couple of sunny days ahead of us, decided it was time to turf it all out, have a bit of a sort, move the dry and already split wood inside the woodshed, and get the chainsaw out . . .

Can't say we got through all of it - but Martin had a good work-out with the axe, while I moved and stacked.  We now have room outside to store and dry out the off-cuts from the yew tree -  and an almost full woodshed again. 


Hopefully enough to see us through the winter!

Cutting Back

Earlier this year we took a look at the yew tree and decided  the time had probably come to scale it down a bit:

High Winds + Large Tree + Close Proximity to House 

It wasn't an equation we were entirely comfortable with . . .

So today (on a damp but at least still morning) the tree surgeons arrived to do the business (having scheduled things for once nesting season was over).

Two men (one up the tree, one dealing with the cuttings), a chainsaw or two, and a chipping machine.

Taking us from 'Before':

To 'After':

They did a very neat job, leaving us (as requested) with a heap of chippings to distribute around the garden, and a pile of stripped logs, which we'll dry out to feed the log burner next winter.

So, it's done - still not entirely comfortable with the choice, but we'll probably sleep better on windy nights from now on!